Youssou N'dour, and (a little) more

This weekend's highlight: seeing Youssou N'dour live at his nightclub, Thiossane! I went with Rachel, her sister Aicha, (who refers to herself as "Queen Aicha,") and Aicha's friend Emily, who is a model for the phone company Orange. The entire club was packed with people dancing, and the music was FANTASTIC. I've been trying to find a good YouTube clip of Youssou N'dour, but none really do justice- it seems that the videos that are posted on YouTube are a lot of his more Westernized stuff- less crazy drums and wild danceability. Here's the best one I found, which at least gives you a taste:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=raDRLnu7AH8
That clip was filmed live at Thiossane, where we were on Saturday!
Here's one other longer song-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2Q4bc86yiI

Other than the concert, my weekend was pretty uneventful. I went to the beach one day, and also visited Le Village des Arts in Northern Dakar, a small community of live-in Senegalese artists. The community is paid for by the Senegalese government, and as artists move out and spaces open up, new people can apply to live in the compound and use the studios there. Foreign artists and students can also come stay in the village to study and work with the live-in Senegalese artists. There is a gallery with works by all of the village's artists, and we were also able to walk around and check out the artists' studios and talk some with them. It was interesting to see some real contemporary African art- the African art exhibits that I've seen in the U.S. are usually traditional masks and whatnot dating back to the stone age, so it was really neat to see some paintings and sculptures by modern artists. I will post pictures before the end of the week, but I left my camera at home today.

This week has also been pretty laid back. Yesterday my Education class went on a field trip to one of Dakar's poorer districts to visit L'Ecole de la Rue. (Literally, the School of the Street.) We met with the school's founder, M. Mbaye, who explained to us that the school holds English, French, and elementary math classes for children and adults alike, free of charge. The children who attend L'Ecole de la Rue are those who are barred from public Senegalese schools for various reasons- some don't have birth certificates, others can't afford the uniforms and school supplies they must pay for at public school, and still others failed out of public school and were not allowed to continue their education. The children take classes during the day, and are divided into groups not by age, but by level of comprehension. Public adult classes are held at night from 5-7PM, literally in the street! The mechanics that surround L'Ecole de la Rue clear the road of cars, and around 200 people come to crowd around a couple of blackboards M. Mbaye has used since he opened the school in 1979 to learn to read and write French and English. Most are street vendors, mechanics, maids, or taxi drivers who come to class after they finish their day's work, and most are completely illiterate. It was wonderful to speak with M. Mbaye, who is a wonderful man dedicated to his work and his students. Such noble work!

In other news, I have some bug bites on my feet that have gotten really disgusting. I showed them to Awa and Adji this morning, who were both extremely grossed out and insisted I go to the doctor. The doctor told me they were definitely infected, and gave me some special foot soak and some antibiotics. He was also kind enough to point out that I have foot fungus, a cracked toe nail, and dry skin on my heels. How kind! Anyhow, I think my gross foot infection might also be the cause of the mild fever and fatigue I've had for the past few days- I'm going to take good care of myself and my feet and hopefully this will all be cleared up by Monday, when I head to the village.

New news on the village- I tried to send an email to Agrecol/Afrique asking for more details about my job, but of course the email address they have on their website doesn't exist. Typical Senegal! I'm going to be the very first person dropped off at my internship site, which means I'm expected to start work that same day. So, come Monday, I'll hop off the bus in Sessene, meet my supervisor, meet my new host family, and then scoot right on over to my job, whatever that might be. Oh boy. I also found out from Waly that there is NO internet access in my village, and I'll have to take a 20 minute bus ride to the nearest cyber cafe. Never fear, I'm planning on making the trek once a week to update my blog!

A couple other funny things this week-
1. Yesterday I watched a show called "Khar Bii" with my host family. "Khar Bii" means "The Sheep," and the show is a competition between sheep from all around Dakar! It is hosted by a well dressed guy in sunglasses who reminds me of a Senegalese Carson Daily. Each sheep is escorted into the ring by its owner and given marks by a panel of judges. Each sheep also has its own cheering section. The best part of the show last night was that there was a sheep named Obama. (He got last place.) HA.
2. Today in Wolof class, our teacher Aissatou had us practicing for our oral exam on Friday. Aissatou asked my friend Olivia to describe her family, and Olivia accidentally told Aissatou that her family named their dog after the astronomer Copernicus, then ate him. Aissatou was laughing so hard she let us out of class before two others had a chance to do their prompts.

Anyhow, that's about all I can think of to write at the moment! Sorry if this post hasn't been as action packed as previous ones, but I'm very tired, I think due to my infected feet. I'll post once more on Friday before I head off into no-internet land.